Repsol to invest up to $3 bn in Peru oil and gas

The Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF will invest up to $3 billion in Peru over the next five years for petroleum exploration and production, the company's president said. "Everything depends on the success we have, but the geological conditions in Peru are very promising, and we know how to exploit opportunities," Repsol president Antonio Brufau said Thursday following meetings with top officials. Around a billion dollars from the new investment will be earmarked for the upgrade of the country's main refinery in the port of El Callao near Lima. Repsol has already invested some $3 billion in several Peru concessions, including in the Camisea gas consortium, with reserves estimated at 365 billion cubic meters. Leftist President Ollanta Humala, who assumed office three months ago, has been in negotiations with the consortium to insure that one of its main gas fields be devoted to local consumption. Brufau said Thursday that the request seemed "reasonable" and that Peru has "enough gas reserves, proven or soon to be," to satisfy domestic and external markets.